At Your Side
by Marauding Mara
Summary: Sirius Black is an insufferable albeit good-looking git and Mary does not understand why every girl at Hogwarts worships him. So when her friend also falls for his infamous charm, she is determined to come up with something to break the spell... S/OC


**Author's Note: **This is a short that is linked to my longterm stories My Everlasting Love and You Only Live Twice. Both stories (and other shorts on the Marauders) can be found on my profile.

You're not obliged to read those fics first, but people who are familiar with my work will get the inside jokes better, haha. Nevertheless, I hope everyone will enjoy this one-shot as much as I liked writing it.

Feedback is always appreciated. Cheers!

**At Your Side**

Mary loved Brice, she really did. They had been close friends from the very first day they had gone to Hogwarts. But right now, in this very moment, she was finding it really hard to restrain herself from blurting out that her friend was making a big mistake. That, and the fact she was passionately snogging Sirius Black right in front of her wasn't exactly good for her morning appetite.

Mary did not understand. Brice was very aware of the fact that, along with their other friend Lily Evans, they were one of the most popular girls in school and could get every boy they wanted. And out of all those cute and responsible guys she could date, she picks Black? Sirius Black, the equivalent of Randall McCormack; the most popular sixth-year student who had brutally broken Mary's heart last year. How could she be so stupid?

Apparently the two of them had gotten together about a week ago at a party after the Gryffindor Quidditch team – in which Sirius played Beater – had wiped Slytherin off the field for the third year in a row. And now it was Tuesday morning and the two of them were having breakfast together. Or having breakfast… Everyone else at the Gryffindor table was forced to witness them eating each other's faces instead of their cereal, and the typical sounds of passionate kissing were making Mary more nauseated by the minute. Merlin only knows what they had been doing the night before… She glanced sideways and noticed that Lily – not a morning person anyway - wasn't exactly smiling either. "I think I'm gonna be sick," her best friend muttered from the corner of her mouth when she noticed Mary was watching her.

"Ugh, tell me about it," she replied, not feeling too good herself as she pushed her toast with marmalade around on her plate.

The only one who did _not_ seem bothered by the public display of moving tongues and the exchange of saliva was Peter, who was sitting next to Sirius and Brice and watched them attentively. James on the other hand decided they all had had to endure enough for one meal and lazily chucked a piece of cheese at Sirius's head. Unfortunately his aim wasn't as perfect as usual and the cheese hit Peter's eye instead, who was forced to wake up from his trance. He blinked a few times, shook his head dazedly and picked up the cheese before he shrugged and shoved it into his mouth.

Lily, noticing this, snorted in her tea, but James wasn't going to give up that easily. His second throw _did_ hit the target, because even though the tangerine bounced of Sirius's head and landed right in the bowl of cereal of the first-year boy sitting next to them, it did make him pull back and look around. "What?"

"I've had it, Padfoot," James said firmly, and Mary got the idea he was the only one at the table who could tell Sirius off like that. "Enough with the snogging; there are people here who've come down to actually have breakfast, not forced to watched their classmates hitting it off yet _again_."

Mary was pleased to see Brice was looking a little embarrassed, but Sirius merely seemed amused. He did however take his arm of Brice's shoulder and started to load his cereal in his mouth at top speed. Brice didn't touch her food and took a few sips of pumpkin juice instead. She seemed all too well aware that her best friends were both glaring at her from across the table, but she did a fairly good job of pretending she did not notice. As soon as Sirius had finished his cereal, he leaned over to Brice and whispered something (no doubt seductive) in her ear. Brice giggled and nodded; the two of them got up quickly and left the Great Hall together, leaving their classmates behind in bemusement.

"Well, that was fun," Remus noted dryly as they all watched Brice and Sirius disappear from sight.

Mary huffed. "I doubt if we'll see those two again before supper."

A teasing smirk was slowly growing on James's face. "I noticed you in particular are very bothered by Sirius and Brice hooking up. I wonder why…"

Lily rolled her eyes. "That's none of your business, Potter."

"No, I don't mind actually," Mary said, looking at James. "You know as well as I do that Black is incapable of dating one girl longer than two weeks."

James didn't answer and shrugged, refusing to admit his best friend had a tendency of swapping girls sooner than his socks. But Mary knew him well enough that in James's world, no reply actually meant consent and she smirked. It was then that she noticed that Professor McGonagall was standing next their table. "Miss Woods, I need to talk to you. In my office," she added sternly when Mary didn't get up immediately.

She did get up now and shot an anxious look at Lily as she was following McGonagall out of the Great Hall. Her friend was looking as surprised as she was feeling; Mary didn't have a clue what she could have done wrong and still didn't know it when she was standing in front of McGonagall desk a few minutes later. "Sit down, Woods," the Professor said.

"You must be wondering why I called you to my office," McGonagall said as she folded her hands on her desk.

"I am, actually," Mary replied hesitantly. "Is this about my Potions grades?"

"No, although I – and I'm sure Professor Slughorn agrees – believe it wouldn't be a bad idea if you got yourself a tutor for that subject. However, that is not why you're here. Five foreign students from the Beauxbatons Academy of Magic will be arriving later today. Three girls and two guys, and I'm asking you to look after one of the girls." She looked down at the piece of parchment in front of her. "Her name is Stephanie Ribera and she and her classmates are scheduled to arrive at three. I expect you to be in the Entrance Hall at that time."

Mary cleared her throat. "Er, of course. But isn't this a job for the Prefects? I'm sure Lily-"

"-Miss Evans, like Mr Lupin, is currently occupied with fulfilling other typical Prefect duties. And you, being one of the cleverer and polite students, will be a nice representative for our school."

"I understand."

McGonagall nodded and got up from her chair. "I expect to see you at three o'clock and not a minute later."

"Good day, Professor," she nodded politely as she made her way out of the office.

This should be interesting, Mary thought on her way to Charms. She had never met a student from Beauxbatons before. All she knew was that it was the only French magical institution and was located somewhere in the Pyrenees. After Mary had excused herself to Flitwick for being late, she made her way to the back of the class (Sirius and Brice were nowhere to be seen). She had hardly sit down when Lily leaned over and whispered: "Are you in trouble?"

"No," Mary replied. "McGonagall wants me to look after one of the French exchange students that will arrive this afternoon."

Lily nodded. "Oh yeah, I remember Dumbledore telling me and Remus at the start of the year."

"So why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't think it was important," she shrugged before turning her attention back to Flitwick.

Shortly after lunch Mary was entering the Common Room to get a book on Defence Against the Dark Arts she had forgotten to put in her bag that morning when she noticed Remus was sitting on the couch near the fire as he was attentively rereading something he had just written down on his parchment. Mary made her way over to the fire and flopped down right next to him. "Hi, why are you studying here?"

"I couldn't quite focus in the library." Remus shot her a dark look over the edge of his parchment. "Sirius and Brice were "studying" a few tables ahead."

She grimaced. "I see your point. Godric, are they annoying together or what?"

Remus merely shrugged, but Mary had noticed he was looking tired and something seemed to really bother him, so she decided to push it a little further: "I mean, Lily and I have been going over it again and again. Black hitting on everything that is wearing a skirt is no secret, but that Brice is actually falling for his charms? Puh-lease!"

A small smile crossed his weary face. "Why are you telling me all this, Mary?"

"Because I can see it's annoying you just as much!"

He frowned at her. "I'm not sure annoyed is the right word, and even so: what can we do?"

But Mary just had an eureka-moment. The only way she could prevent Brice from really getting hurt was to make sure her fling with Sirius ended as soon as possible. She enthusiastically hit Remus on the arm. "That's it! I like the way you think, Remus."

Now he looked just confused. "What are you talking about?"

"_What can we do?_ That is just the thing! We must come up with a plan to end their and _our_ agony."

He arched an eyebrow. "You want to break Sirius and Brice up?"

"Yes!" Mary cried. "But only to make sure Brice doesn't get hurt," she clarified when she noticed Remus was shooting her a really odd look.

"And you don't think breaking them up will hurt her feelings?"

Mary sighed, feeling frustrated that he didn't get what she was trying to say. "I just… You know Black only dates girls for about a week before moving on to the next one and that is fine by me. But it's not fine if that girl happens to be one my best friends. And… I'm pretty sure Black sees her as just another conquest, but Brice has never dated anyone before. Her heart will get seriously crushed once he ditches her for his next prey and she doesn't deserve that."

Remus shot her a long look. "Just like Randall did to you?"

"Well… Yeah," Mary said after a pause, feeling the familiar mixture of hurt and embarrassment wash over her. She had been so naïve to fall in love with Randall, while he was just… playing around. "Anyway," she continued briskly, waving her hand in a dismissive manner, "it doesn't matter anymore. What matters is to think of something what will make Brice see reason."

"I don't know, Mary," Remus sighed. "It's a little late for that, don't you think? Brice is already dating Sirius. No matter if their relationship ends in a day or a few months, a break up always hurts."

"Hmmm, I guess you're right about that," she admitted grudgingly before giving him a friendly nudge. "But you don't like seeing them together either."

He slowly shook his head. "No, I don't."

"Why not?"

"I don't really know why… Seeing Brice with him just gets on my nerves, I guess." He shrugged indifferently. "Or maybe I'd just hate to see her get hurt, since I think of her as a friend."

"Or perhaps more than a friend?" Mary inquired teasingly, giving him another nudge.

Remus laughed a little too loudly for her liking, but he managed to look convincing enough when he said: "Oh, you would like that, now wouldn't you?"

"I know you would treat her better than Black," Mary grinned. "But honestly: you're telling me you have no feelings for her?"

"Honest, I don't."

"Can you say that again without blinking?"

Remus sniggered, chucked his homework to the floor, turned around so he was facing Mary and placed both his hands on her shoulders. Then he lowered his head and his forehead was leaning right against hers, so he was looking straight at her when (without blinking) he said: "I do not have feelings for her."

For a moment all Mary could see were his mesmerizing light-brown eyes until someone appeared next to them and said loudly: "Oh, this seems cosy. Can I join in?"

Mary and Remus jerked their heads up and found themselves staring at a grinning Sirius. "What are you doing here?" Remus asked.

"Waiting for Brice, she's upstairs getting a sweater. I'm taking her out on a hike," he added casually.

"What about Potions?" Mary asked.

Sirius shrugged. "Brice and I can easily afford to skip a class or two. Unlike some people I know. You, for example; shouldn't you be locking yourself up in the library instead of snuggling up to Moony here?"

He smirked at her; that typical smirk which made practically every girl go weak in the knees except Mary, who was feeling more tempted by the minute to smack that grin off his arrogant face. She jumped up from the couch and glared right into those bright grey eyes. "Sod off, Black," she hissed before turning right on her heel and heading straight to the girls dormitory. She walked upstairs without looking back, but her feet stamping on the stairs could not prevent her from hearing Sirius snort and ask: "Is it bad that glare turned me on?"

Remus groaned. "Sirius…"

That was all Mary heard, but her blood was practically boiling when she burst into her dormitory. She slammed her trunk open with more force than necessary and pulled out the DADA-book she needed. She was about to walk out of the dormitory when she ran straight into Brice who was just coming out of the bathroom. "Hey, where you're-"

"Not now, Brice," Mary snapped before storming out of the room. Dealing with a friend who was falling in love with that insufferable jerk downstairs was something she could not deal with right now.

Mary was still sulking by the time she had joined McGonagall, Dumbledore and four other students to welcome the Beauxbatons exchange students. She was actually feeling relieved she could be focusing on something else than Brice and Sirius for a change. After all, she knew Remus was right. It was not up to them to decide whether or not Brice was making a mistake. Mary was convinced Brice would end up getting hurt eventually, but it wasn't like there was anything she could do about it. She watched how Filch walked inside with the five students, who were all looking around the Entrance Hall with interest.

The two guys, who had both been assigned to Ravenclaw, looked nice. They politely shook the hands of their guide and followed the Ravenclaw girl upstairs. Then there were three girls. One of them, wearing glasses the size of binoculars, had been assigned to Allison Zabini, who winked at Mary while whispering "Oh goodie, they gave me a freaking mole!" before literally taking the girl by the hand and taking her downstairs to the dungeons.

The second girl was mostly resembling a cube on legs as she was easily as tall as she was wide. The Hufflepuff guide was polite enough to keep a straight face as he shook her hand and showed her the way to the Hufflepuff Common Room. And then there was one left: the girl called Stephanie who Mary was supposed to show around Hogwarts for the next two weeks had straight golden hair that fell to her shoulder in lose waves. Her eyes were baby blue with green streaks and she was tall and lean: she looked like a supermodel and she probably knew she did. "Bonjour," she said as she shook Mary's hand lightly. "I am Stephanie. I'm glad zo be here. It was zuch a longue journey."

"I'm Mary, it's very nice to meet you," she replied, trying hard to smile sincerely but she instinctively knew she and Stephanie were not going to hit it off. "Come on, I'll show you the Gryffindor Common Room and where you will be sleeping the next two weeks."

Later on Mary would remember these two weeks as the longest of her life. Stephanie was a terrible pain; she was complaining constantly. The draughtiness of the castle, the facts that there was a horrible beast (she was referring to the giant squid) in the lake or that all the "prettiey guys at 'Ogwarts were already taken". Her whining drove her and Lily insane and they were literally counting the days before Stephanie would leave and head back to her precious France. Even Brice had momentarily descended from her cloud, especially when she noticed Stephanie was repeatedly casting longing looks at Sirius.

One night, about a week after the Beauxbatons students had arrived, they were all sitting in the Common Room. Mary and Lily were playing a game of Exploding Snap while Stephanie was sulkily watching them, Brice had curled up on the couch and was engaged in one of her crossword puzzles and the guys were playing a game wizard's chess at the other side of the room. "I am bored," Stephanie sighed for the eighth time in half an hour and Lily sighed. "Why won't you go reading a book or something?"

Stephanie wrinkled her nose. "I do not read unless I 'ave to."

"Okay," Mary said, trying to remain kindly. "How about writing an owl to your family at home?"

"I already zid zat earlier today."

Mary exchanged an exasperated look with Lily and was about to reply to that snappy answer when she got distracted by Sirius who had approached Brice and was leaning over her from behind as he softly kissed her neck and made his way down to her collarbone. But Brice wasn't in the mood and pulled her head away. "Not now, Sirius. I'm trying to finish this."

Mary almost laughed aloud when she noticed the shocked look on his face: clearly Sirius Black had never been stood up for a crossword puzzle before. "Fine," he said, looking annoyed before calling over his shoulder: "Oi Prongs, care to go for a stroll around the castle?"

James, obviously relieved that Sirius's plans to spend the rest of the night with Brice had changed, jumped up from his seat. "Great plan. Anyone else coming along?"

"Can I come?" Peter asked.

"Sure, Wormtail. What about you, Moony?"

Remus, who was working on an Herbology essay, merely shook his head. "Suit yourself," James said. "Anyone else?"

"I am coming along zoo," Stepanie suddenly said.

Mary shot her a look. "You can't go outside now, Stephanie. It's after hours, you are not allowed to do that."

"So?" She pointed at James, Sirius and Peter. "Zey are going, why shouldn't I?"

"That's the spirit, Stephanie!" Sirius grinned. "Come along now, we will protect you."

And the four of them walked out of the Common Room. "Don't say I didn't warn you if you run in on McGonagall!" Mary called after Stephanie, but the portrait of the Fat Lady was already closing.

She turned back and looked at Lily. "Am I the only one who has a bad feeling about this?"

"No," Lily said, frowning slightly. "I have it too."

Their predictions came true. They did not notice it that night, but a few hours later James and Peter had come back to the Common Room alone. Sirius and Stephanie didn't return until much later that night. Mary, Lily and Brice had been sleeping for quite some time when Stephanie finally got back to the dormitory and climbed into one of the spare beds.

The next day however, all hell broke loose. Because of all the many things that could be said about Sirius Black: being dishonest was not one of them. Right after breakfast he asked Brice to take a walk with him. They left the Great Hall together while Stephanie (Mary only linked the two things _after_ she found out what happened) was smirking into her goblet of pumpkin juice. Mary and Lily did not see Brice again till much later that day. After looking for their friend in all the places they could think of, Lily finally found her in the bathroom of their dormitory, sitting with her back against the wall of one of the showers. Mary walked inside a little later and looked at Lily, who had put her arm around Brice's shoulder, before flopping down on the other side of her crying friend.

"I just don't understand," Brice sobbed before blowing her nose loudly. "Sirius and I had _such_ a connection."

Mary and Lily exchanged a dark look over Brice's head before Lily sighed. "I know, sweetie," she said, rubbing her shoulder soothingly. "He should have known better, he should consider himself lucky to have a girl like you."

Brice nodded sadly as the tears were streaming down her cheeks. "I thought he loved me, that we shared something really beautiful. And then he dumps me over a French supermodel with a stupid accent! Godric, I have been so stupid, why did I fall for him, _why_?"

Lily shot a look at Mary, clearly suggesting it was her turn to say something comforting. But Mary's tongue seemed to be glued to the roof of her mouth; it would only be pulled off once she could blurt out what she had been aching to say all along: that Brice could have seen this coming, that it was her own fault to get involved with someone like Sirius and she should have known better after witnessing how crushed Mary was when she got ditched by Randall. But one look at her devastated friend made that impossible. So instead, she sighed and rubbed Brice's arm. "What can I say? It's his loss. You deserve so much better."

Brice looked up at her with her teary amber eyes. "Do you really think so?" she whispered hoarsely.

"Absolutely. One day a much better guy will come along, trust me. And till that time comes, the three of us will stick together. That's the only thing that matters: you'll always have us."

Brice looked from Mary at Lily and back. "Always?"

Lily smiled and nodded firmly as Mary also put her arm around Brice and the three of them were huddled together against the cold bathroom wall. "Always and forever."

**- The End -**


End file.
